【Mike Horner Archives】

Getting a Michelin star is Mike Horner Archivesa lifetime accomplishment for most restaurants, but it can also cause performance anxiety for the prestige and pressure associated with it.

For this reason, French three-Michelin star chef Sébastien Bras has demanded to be excluded from the next Michelin food guide in what certainly is a world first.

The 46-year-old owner of Le Suquet restaurant in Laguiole appeared on a Facebook Live to explain his decision.

He wrote in the caption:

"Ten years after taking over the reins of the establishment founded by my father, Michel Bars, in 1992, and honoured by a third star since 1999, I've decided, in agreement with all my family, to open a new chapter in my professional life without the award of the Michelin Guide, but with the same passion for my cuisine. I intend to continue with my faithful team to make people live at Suquet the magical experience of Aubrac [a green plateau where the restaurant is located], always with this quest for excellence."

He kicks off his livestream citing a French author, Camille Belguise, to explain his feelings:

"In silence and solitude, one can hear nothing but the essential."

Bras later explained to AFP the kind of pressure he was under:

"You're inspected two or three times a year, you never know when. Every meal that goes out could be inspected. That means that, every day, one of the 500 meals that leaves the kitchen could be judged."

"Maybe I will be less famous but I accept that," he said, free of creating plates "without wondering whether my creations will appeal to Michelin's inspectors."

A member of Michelin, Claire Dorland Clauzel, said in response: "We note and we respect it."